How about a p2p system arranged like an online store -- where each band has a "page" -- tied to an Amazon-like review system, including a field reviewers would fill out: "Sounds like: [well known band names here]." So if an artist gets good reviews, and you like the other artists the reviewers say this artist sounds like, it's a pretty good bet.
And maybe you could search based on the "sounds like" field; so if you like, say, They Might Be Giants, you search on that and find bands that have been tagged as sounding like TMBG. Then you read the reviews to gauge quality.
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And maybe you could search based on the "sounds like" field; so if you like, say, They Might Be Giants, you search on that and find bands that have been tagged as sounding like TMBG. Then you read the reviews to gauge quality.